Freedom and Guidance in a Theologically Inclusive Tradition: Episcopal Parents’ Narratives of Religious Child Rearing

Dominant discourses in the United States valorize religious choice, but parents often want to pass on their faith and guide their children to the benefits of religion. This paper asks how highly religious mainline Protestant parents negotiate between the desire to transmit their faith to their children and the desire to encourage their children’s freedom to choose. Using over 140 qualitative interviews, we analyze parents’ talk about spiritual goals for their children, strategies for faith transmission, and reflections on directiveness versus allowing choice. Do parents hope that their children will adopt the faith in which they are raised? Where do parents feel comfortable imposing religious expectations on their children, and why? Answers to these questions shed light on the complexities of religious parenting in a cultural context that values theological openness and inclusivity.